Edwards may face criminal charges

Multiple reports say former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards will soon be indicted by the Justice Department on criminal charges for allegedly violating campaign finance laws in an effort to cover up his extramarital affair.

Overnight reports cite sources close to the investigation who say that the government is preparing to indict Edwards, though a plea deal could still be reached, perhaps in the next two weeks. The plans were first reported by ABC News.

Story Continued Below

Months after bowing out of the 2008 presidential race, Edwards admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who was at one time hired by his campaign to produce promotional videos. Though a longtime Edwards aide initially took responsibility for fathering Hunter’s child, Edwards admitted early last year that Frances Quinn Hunter, now three years old, is his.

The Justice Department has been investigating whether more than $1 million allegedly spent to keep the affair under wraps amounted to campaign finance law violations. Two major Edwards donors, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and Fred Baron, are alleged by the government to had paid to help keep the affair secret as Edwards pursued his presidential bid.

Before his death in 2008, Baron said he had given money to hide Hunter from the press but denied that Edwards was aware of the arrangement. Since then, Andrew Young, the former Edwards aide who initially claimed to be the baby’s father, has said that Edwards knew about the money and played a role in soliciting it.

The government’s case is expected to rely heavily on evidence provided by Young, who also wrote a tell-all book about his years working for Edwards. He was one of more than a dozen witnesses to testify before a grand jury in Raleigh, N.C., over the last year.